Bonneted Bat Updates

This last week a runner at a park in south Miami-Dade County reported to have spotted a large bat roosting under a small recreational shelter. The next day, a member of the Miami Bat Lab went out to investigate and confirmed that is was indeed an endangered Florida bonneted bat! A single Florida bonneted bat by itself is almost always going to be a bachelor male since this species lives in a harem structure. This little guy chose a terrible location to roost because he is very exposed, perching in the corner of two wooden beams, and at a very busy shelter used by the public. When we went to investigate the location, there was actually a woman sitting directly under the bat, unbeknownst to her, talking loudly on her cell phone and evidence of people smoking at the same location. This roost the bat chose is unlike any other roost documented for the species in its open characteristics and the lowest in elevation on record at only a little above nine feet in height. These bats tend to prefer very high roosts with the previous lowest record being at thirteen feet. The park's manager agreed to let us install a new artificial roost nearby to where this bat is currently roosting to provide a hopefully more attractive alternative. We hope that the bat will choose to relocate on its own so that it not where it might come in conflict with people or park workers and it will have a safe place to rest during the day and hopefully attract some females to start a colony of his own.